She was the first thing I thought about in the morning; the last thing I thought about before I went to sleep. She was my everything, my whole world. I needed to show her that.

Of course, life would often get in the way of me showing her. Work was a priority, keeping a stable income and providing for the life I had built. Still, she was always on my mind, and I felt so guilty that I didn’t prioritise her.

I remember it like it was yesterday: the day I made her feel like she was the only girl in the world.

I had just finished a day of work. I clocked off early so I could spend more time with her. I walked through my front door and in the doorway was my wife. She was happy to see me, and hugged me tightly. I half-heartedly hugged her back, not wanting to waste a second longer waiting to see the girl I was desperately in need of seeing at that moment.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, clearly confused by my blasé reaction to seeing her.

I shook my head. “It’s nothing, dear,” I said, looking at my feet, sheepishly.

She stamped her feet, but allowed me past. I ran through our house until I found what I needed to make this evening extra special for the best girl in the world.

I grabbed everything I needed, set the table to her exact specification (I had seen her do it like this maybe a hundred times before) and waited for her to join me.

At around 5 o’clock, I saw her. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, her hair falling in golden ringlets and her blue dress fitting her frail body awkwardly but also perfectly.

“Daddy, you set up the tea party,” she said excitedly.

I nodded, smiling from ear to ear. And we tea partied away until we heard my wife call us both for dinner an hour and a half later.